How Max met Fran
by dancefan93
Summary: Little story on how the show would have gone if I directed it.
1. Chapter 1

**How Max met Fran**

**CHAPTER 1**

**It was a warm sunning day in June. Fran Fine was working in the bridal shop she had been working in for the past three years. She wasn't completely alone she had her almost fiancé, Danny and her best friend since high school, Val. Fran and Val talked all the time, mostly about the wedding that was going to happen when Danny finally proposed. It was around two o'clock and a tall woman around her early twenties with short blonde hair walked in. **

"**Excuse me, I'm Sarah Barns. I have an appointment for two o'clock." Sarah said as she approached the counter.**

"**Yes, I see you right here. If you'll have a seat right there, I'll go get Fran." Val said as she disappeared into the back. Sarah sat down and within minutes Fran came out from the back room.**

"**Sorry it so long, I had to get away from Danny. How about we find you the perfect dress?" Sarah got up and followed Fran. There they picked out several dresses for Sarah to try on. Within a few minutes, they found the perfect one. "Oh, honey you look beautiful, your fiancé is one lucky guy." Fran said as she smoothed out the bottom.**

"**Thanks, I just hope that he'll like the dress. I'm so nervous, don't get me wrong I love Maxwell I really do, but sometimes I wonder if loves me as much as I love him." Sarah said with a smile of nervous and excitement on her face.**

"**Well, I'm sure that this Maxwell…. Wait where have I heard that name before I know that name? Maxwell what… Shield?" Fran wondered. Sarah cut into her thoughts.**

"**Close Maxwell Sheffield." Fran jumped up at that name.**

"**That's it! Maxwell Sheffield. The famous Broadway producer, oh please if you don't think he loves you then you will never find love. I've been to some of his productions and every time I see you with him, I can see that sparkle in his eyes when he looks at you. Trust me, he loves you." After that afternoon, Sarah and Fran became good friends. Sarah, Fran and Val would go out all time. Sarah even invited the two to the wedding. The night before the wedding, Fran and Val paid Sarah a surprise visit.**

"**Fran Val! What a nice surprise. What do I owe the honor?" **

"**We thought that you might need some calming, so we brought you this." Val said holding up a bottle of white wine.**

"**I love you guys. Please come in." She said as she ushered the girls in. She got three wine glasses. At around midnight they heard a knock at the door. Fran got up to look out the window.**

"**Sarah, get in the bedroom. It's Maxwell." Sarah quickly got up and went into the bedroom as Fran opened the door. "Mr. Sheffield, what are you going here? You know the rule; you can't see the bride 24 hours before the wedding." Maxwell just stood there.**

"**Oh, just move I have every right to see my fiancé." **

"**Are you drunk, Mr. Sheffield?" Fran asked looking into his eyes. Maxwell answered no but Fran knew that he was. She took him by the arm and took him home after saying good night to Sarah. She told Val that she would be back to pick her up. She dropped off Maxwell and returned to pick Val up. After wishing Sarah good luck tomorrow, they both went home.**


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

**The morning of the wedding, Fran and Val arrived early and found Sarah in her dressing room. When the door opened, Sarah whipped around to find Fran and Val standing in the doorway. **

"**You must be Fran and Val. I'm Jocelyn, Maxwell's sister. Nice to meet you both." She said as she shook Fran and Val's hands.**

"**Likewise, so Jocelyn, has Maxwell always been a big success?" Val asked. Jocelyn laughed.**

"**Oh heavens no, before he left London, he didn't even want to become a producer. When he told Nigel and I that he was a producer we didn't believe him until he sent us tickets to his first production." Fran, Val, Jocelyn and even Sarah laughed at the comment. As they were quieting down they heard the band begin to play.**

"**Well, that's our cue to take our seats. Good luck Sarah." Fran said as she hugged her. Val did the same. They left and took their seats. The ceremony was beautiful. The reception went until about ten at night. At nine thirty, Fran and Val said their good-byes and left. They didn't hear from Sarah for a while until one day at the bridal shop. Val answered the phone.**

"**Hello, bridal shop how may I help you?"**

"**Is there a Val and Fran there?"**

"**Val is speaking and Fran is right next to me. How may I help you?"**

"**My name is Niles, I work for the Sheffield's. We need Val and Fran to come down to the hospital right away." Niles said.**

"**Oh my goodness! We'll be right there." Val hung up the phone. "Fran let's go we have to get down to the hospital." They got the hospital and were told to wait in the waiting room. Meanwhile, outside a hospital room Maxwell came out. **

"**Are they here Niles?" Niles nodded. Maxwell went into the waiting room to get Fran and Val. **

"**Oh, Maxwell, what happened? Is Sarah okay?" Fran asked. Maxwell tried to keep a straight face.**

"**Why don't you two come with me?" Fran and Val followed Maxwell to the hospital room. When they entered the room, they found Sarah holding a little pink bundle. They both let out breath of relief. They turned to Maxwell and Niles who grinning like idiots. They went over to them and hit them and the shoulder… hard. **

"**You jerks! We thought something was wrong. Don't do that to us." They said together. They immediately turned their attention back to Sarah. **

"**Oh my goodness, Sarah. Congratulations." Fran said. "What are you going to name her?" Sarah and Max thought for a second then said together.**

"**Margret. Margret Sheffield." Fran and Val awed. A few days later, Sarah and Margret were released from the hospital. Fran would go over almost every day to help Niles out since he was mostly taking care of Margret. After a while, Fran got tired of saying Margret so she started calling her Maggie. After a short while, Niles and Fran formed a close friendship. Four years later, Sarah had another baby. A little boy who they named Brighton, Fran still came over to help out; Maggie started calling Fran, Aunt Frannie. By the time Grace was born, both Maggie and Brighton were calling Fran Aunt Frannie. Fran had quickly become part of the family. She continued to help the children. She formed a tight friendship with Niles and a loose friendship with Max. She really didn't see Max that much though. He was always either in his office or at the theater. One day Fran was walking around with Val when they heard a car screech and it hit something. They both ran closer and they heard something that made their hearts stop.**

"**SARAH!" They recognized the voice immediately. It was Maxwell. They ran as fast as they could to where the voice came from. When they got there, they saw Sarah's body on the ground and Maxwell kneeling over her failing to hold tears in, they also saw the children on the sidewalk being held back by Niles. Fran and Val ran over to them.**

"**Aunt Frannie!" Maggie and Brighton yelled together. They got out of Niles's grip and ran to her. Fran knelt down to meet them. Their cheeks were tear stained and tears were still running down their faces. She brought them back over to Niles and turned them so they couldn't see their mother and the condition she was in. Fran turned to face Max and saw that he was a wreck. The ambulance arrived within a few moments. Max rode in the ambulance with Sarah and the others followed in the limo. Fran was holding Maggie and Brighton and Niles was holding little Gracie. Val was trying to calm them all down but failing. Niles was trying extremely hard not to show how much he was hurting and how upset he was. Fran was able to read him like a book though and knew that he was just as upset as she was. When they arrived at the hospital, Sarah had already been brought in for surgery due to internal bleeding and damages to the head and skull. Max was sitting was on a chair with his head in his hands. Maggie and Brighton tried to go over to him, but Fran held them back.**

"**Let your dad be alone for right now. He has a lot of feelings going through him right now. Come on, let's go get some lunch and bring it back up here." Fran whispered and brought them to get lunch and as promised brought it up to where their father was. After they finished eating, a doctor came out to talk to Max. They couldn't hear what they were saying but the way Max acted, Fran knew that Sarah was gone. Max came over and knelt in front of Maggie and Brighton, he didn't even have to say anything by the look on his face they knew that their mother was gone. They fell into his arms and he held them tight. They all went into the room to say one last good bye to their mother. Fran waited outside and just looked in through the window. She said a silent prayer for Sarah. When they came out, Maggie and Brighton ran to Fran. She hugged them as they cried. She looked up at Max and caught him wiping tears away. He insisted that Fran come with them to the house. She said bye to Val and went back to the mansion. **


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

**Back at the mansion, she helped Niles but the children down for a nap and went back downstairs to help him cope with this.**

"**Mrs. Sheffield was the last person I expected to be gone. I can't believe that she was here one minute then the next, she was gone." Niles said as he tried not to cry.**

"**I know what you mean. I've known Sarah since before the wedding; she always seemed like a strong person. I better go see how Max is doing I'll be right. Don't do anything rash." That earned a weak smile from Niles. She knocked on the office door and opened it to find Max standing out on the terrace. She went to the terrace door and knocked on it. He didn't even turn around. "Max, are you okay? Wow; that was a stupid question." Fran said as she walked onto the terrace. **

"**You know something, Fran? I never thought that I would be left alone to care for my children. I don't know anything about raising children." **

"**You're not alone, you have Niles and I come over as often as you need me to. I'm not going to leave you alone. You'll always have someone to help you out." Fran said as she patted his shoulder. He turned around to face her. She saw that he still had tears running down his face. She cupped his face in her hands and wiped the tears away with her thumbs. "There that's better, there's the Maxwell Sheffield I know and befriended." She leaned in closer to his ear and whispered "Do you think that she would want to see you like this? She would want to see you getting on with your life." Just as he was about to answer, he was interrupted by C.C. coming in.**

"**Hello Hello. Maxwell we need to get to the theater. The show is not going to be ready in time." **

"**C.C. I'm taking off of work today and for the rest of the week. I have too much going on." Maxwell said as he gently took Fran's hands off his face.**

"**Maxwell you can't do that. We need to this play going. I mean come on who died?" Fran was getting ready to smack her when Max grabbed her arms. **

"**C.C. Sarah was killed. She was hit by a drunk driver." C.C. was speechless.**

"**Oh, Maxwell, I'm so sorry. I had no idea. I'll show myself out call me when you feel up to working again. I can handle to show by myself for a while." Maxwell thanked her as he heard Gracie cry.**

"**Don't worry, I've got her." Fran didn't even notice the baby monitor in the office. She went upstairs to Gracie's room. She went in a picked her up. "Okay what's wrong angel? You had a tough day didn't you? We all did, I feel sorry you the most. You probably won't even remember her. Don't worry, angel I won't let that happen. I'll make sure that you remember your mom. How about we start now, she was very pretty. You remind me a lot of her. She always wanted you and your siblings to have the best life, she used to tell me that if anything were to happen to her to make sure that her children stay in line. I made her that promise a long time ago, as long as daddy keeps letting me come here you will be seeing a lot me." Fran noticed some tears running down her face. She looked down and noticed that Gracie was back asleep. She put her back in her crib, went to bathroom, locked the door and leaned against it and cried. She heard a knock at the door and quickly pulled herself together. She splashed cold water on her face and opened the door. She found Max standing at the door. "Oh Max, I'm sorry I didn't realize how long I was up here." **

"**Don't worry about it. I came up here because I heard you talking to Grace. I want you to know that I would never tell you that you can't see them. In fact, I want you to come and see them. I want you to come here mostly because we need someone of the feminine side." That earned a giggle from Fran. She promised that she would come over every day to help out. **


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

**For the next few months, things moved slowly at the Sheffield home. The children were so depressed. Every time that Gracie would wake up, she would call for her mommy. Max wasn't much better he buried himself in work. Fran kept trying to get him out of his office but never availed. She gave up after a while. She just kept the kids busy and whenever they asked she would show them a home video with their mom on it. They laughed and cried and were reminded of the happy times. Sometimes Max would sneak in a glance at the videos. After a while he started coming out of his office. He started having breakfast and dinner with the family. He even ate lunch with them on the weekends. He found himself strangely attracted to Fran. He almost felt love for her. After a year and half of her being there every moment, he suggested that she just move in. She agreed to it and the children were over-joyed. She helped with everything, whether it be; birthday parties or backer's parties; she was there. Max started to show his feeling without even noticing it. Niles as always noticed everything, whether it be a peck on the cheek or a long hug, he knew exactly what was going on; they liked each other. One day Max built up the courage to ask Fran out. He called her into his office.**

"**You wanted to see me Maxwell?" Fran asked as she opened the door.**

"**Yes please close the door and sit down." She did as she was told. "I've been thinking, you've been so good with the children and I very much see how wonderful you are and well, I'm just going to get the point… would like to have dinner with me tonight?"**

"**Maxwell, don't I have dinner with you every night?"**

"**Well, yes but I meant like without the children, just the two of us, like a date." Fran was speechless. **

"**Of course, I would love to." She said with a little too much excitement she thought. **

"**Wonderful, I'll have to car outside by seven is that okay?" Fran looked at her watch it was five she had just enough time. **

"**That's perfect, see you at seven." She left the office, went upstairs, shut the door of her room and screamed with joy. At six, she was curling her hair when Maggie and Brighton came into her room.**

"**Are you going somewhere Aunt Fran?" Maggie asked. Within the months that she had been there, they shortened Aunt Frannie to Aunt Fran.**

"**Yeah you look really pretty." Brighton said. Fran turned to face them.**

"**Well as a matter of fact, I am going somewhere, I have a date tonight." She noticed the sad looks on their faces. "What's wrong angels?"**

"**If you go on dates then you'll forget all about us and we'll never see you again." Brighton said. Fran's heart almost broke in two when she heard that.**

"**Oh, B, that's never going to happen. I could never forget about you guys. It would be wrong if I forgot about you guys, especially with who the date is with."**

"**Who is it Niles?" Maggie asked.**

"**Close, your father." Fran said.**

"**So now you're trying to take mom's place?" Brighton asked on the verge of tears.**

"**Never, do you remember what I said when I came here? I said that I would never ever try and take your mother's place. You guys have a mom and I would try to replace her."**

"**You mean we HAD a mom." Maggie said.**

"**No I mean you guys, HAVE a mom. She may not be here with you, but she's still your mom and nothing will ever change that." Fran said hugging them. They felt a lot better after that. They left Fran to get ready. At seven, she came down the stairs to find Max waiting for her. **

"**My goodness, you look beautiful. Shall we?" He asked offering his arm.**

"**We shall." She replied taking his arm and exiting through the door. He took her the Russian Tea Room. They laughed and talked about their lives. Fran took a huge step in talking about the day she met Sarah. Max seemed very interested in how they met. By the end the night, they knew everything about each other. Their prefect night was ruined by Danny seeing them. **

"**Frannie, what hell are you doing? We are together, you're cheating on now?" **

"**Oh my goodness Fran I'm so sorry. I completely forgot about your boyfriend."**

"**You have to be sorry about Max. Danny, you dumped be a year a half ago. We have been over since then. If I want to date again I can." Danny was getting angry now, he was obviously drunk. **

"**You can't talk to me like that! Let's go I'm taking you back." He said as he grabbed her arm but she yanked it back.**

"**No Danny, I'm not going with you. I have someone new in my life, someone who likes me for me, also someone who doesn't hit me when I say no." Danny stepped closer to her and said,**

"**Apparently, you need to another lesson." He raised his hand and smacked her across the face with the back of his hand.**

"**Fran! Fran are you okay?" Max asked going over to her. **

"**I'm fine can you please just me out of here?" She whispered. Max nodded he didn't look back at Danny as he led her to the limo. "I'm so sorry that out perfect night was ruined." She apologized to Max.**

"**Hey, it's fine. The night's not over and as long I'm with you it's perfect." He lifted her head to look into her eyes. As looked in each other's eyes they felt this gravitational pull come over them. Before they knew it, they were kissing, to even more of their surprise the other one kissing back. Max wrapped his arm around her back and she did the same with his neck. Max started kissing her neck and when she didn't stop him, he went to her shoulders. She felt herself being lowered onto the seat. **

"**Max… I don't think this is the place to this, when my bed is so comfortable." Fran said. Max laughed and agreed. As if on cue, they pulled in front of the house. They went inside. Since it was late, everyone was in bed. "Why don't you go in my room and wait for me. I just need to check on the children." She said as she walked toward Maggie's room. After Fran checked on the children she went to her room, when she walked in, she didn't see Max. "Max?" As she called his name, the lights went out and she felt strong hands over her eyes and mouth. **

"**Don't scream or yell. Everything's going to be just fine." She knew that voice, she didn't know what game Max was playing all she knew was that, she liked it. The last thing she remembered was a terrific feeling and a warm body on top of her. **


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

**Fran a woke the next morning, feeling terrific. She almost forgot what happened the night before until she looked over and saw Maxwell sleeping next to her. She silently giggled and scooted over to him. Careful not to wake him yet, she slid over to him and straddled him. He awoke with a start and looked at Fran. He immediately remembered the events of the night before.**

"**What time is it?" Max asked Fran after kissing her. **

"**Early about five in the morning, I just couldn't wait to see your beautiful eyes. You don't mind do you?" **

"**Let's see getting a wake-up call from a beautiful woman or waking up to a noisy alarm clock. I think I'll take the first one." Max said laughing as he pulled her into another kiss. "How about we pick up where we left off last night?"**

"**You read my mind." She said as she gently pushed on his chest and continued to pleasure him. For the next few months, they continued to date. After two years, Max was ready to pop the question. He went out to buy an engagement ring. He was taking her to the Russian Tea Room same place he took her on their first date. "I'm ready to go Max." Fran called as she came down the stairs. Max was waiting for her, as always she looked stunning. He took her to dinner and as dessert was being served, he decided that now was the perfect time. **

"**Fran, you have been in my life since my marriage to Sarah. Even after her death, you stayed with me to help me with take care of my children. They already think of you as their aunt and I don't want them to ever forget you. You stole something though when you came to stay, you stole a very big place in my heart. I never thought that I could ever love again after Sarah, but you proved me wrong. Fran will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Max asked as he got down on one knee and pulled out a ring. Fran was completely speechless she wasn't expecting this at all. **

"**Of course, I will!" Fran said jumping out of her chair and at him. She tackled him to the floor kissing him passionately. He broke the kiss long enough to put the ring on her finger. For the next few months, they planned the wedding. The ceremony was to take place six months after the engagement. Everything went according to plan. Six months later, Max and Fran were husband and wife. About year after the wedding, Fran got the news that she was pregnant. She gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. They named the boy Jonah and the girl Eve. Fran and Max finally got their fairy tale ending. The End. **


End file.
